Notes from the Beat, 9/27

Woody Parramore is totally thinking the same thing the rest of us are thinking.

Looking around the Auburn beat on this Monday afternoon:

Newton for Some Other Award That Might Not Be Such a Distraction. So God2illa is having his name mentioned in the same breath as that award, you know the one, the what’s it-called; the Davey O’Brien. That’s it.

OK, not really. And it’s not just Auburn fans who are saying he’s in the middle of the race at the quarter-pole, either. And it’s not like it’s crazy talk when you look at his numbers, either; if you can lead the SEC in both rushing and passing efficiency (has anyone even come remotely close to that kind of double in the modern era of college football?), you’re doing something extraordinarily right.

But let’s be serious: an invite to New York is the best Newton can hope for. Unless Auburn rips off 11 wins and an SEC West title, it’s probably going to a higher-profile player on a higher-profile team … and if it doesn’t, it’ll probably go to Robinson, whose numbers are similar to Newton’s but even more mind-boggling.

So I’d sort of like to have the whole thing nipped in the bud before it spirals into “This week: Cameron Newton takes on LSU! Also, Newton will be playing alongside some other guys called his ‘team’!” That won’t be good for Auburn, and it won’t really be good for Newton, who needs to stay as hungry as possible at all times to get where he and Auburn want to go. It’s easy for him to say he doesn’t care about the thing now, but if it’s Week 10 and it’s not just Bitter and Tate and Goldberg asking him about it on a weekly basis but the SI and ESPN guys and he sees his face every time he turns on the TV … well, it’ll still be easy to say. But it’ll hard for it to be the truth.

All that said, if Newton keeps playing the way he has to-date, he and I both will probably just have to get used to it.

Schedulin’. The Kentucky game will be another evening kickoff, very likely on ESPN2, and so I suggest preparing yourself mentally right now to hear Marc Jones ask Bob Davie a series of questions about 19th-century Southeast Asian politics as Auburn drives for a game-winning score early in the fourth quarter.

And oh, if you missed it somehow, this Saturday’s game will in fact take place during something called “daylight” after an 11 a.m. kickoff, and air on ESPNU.

“It’s just a different world. You can’t come down every time full-speed. I’ve just got to learn not to do that every time.”

Bates is saying he’s playing too aggressively (in response, apparently, to a question about missing tackles), but the conflict between what his instincts are and what he’s doing is evident. He just has to play faster. He’ll get there, but in the meantime, Auburn’s just going to have to resign themselves to less production than we’d like out of that spot.

“We want to reward performance, because if you want to have good things happen to them when they perform, we want them to understand that,” Roof said. “And Nosa played well. And he’s rewarded with a start. Anytime there’s competition, that’s the kind of environment you want to create. And it’ll make everybody better.”

Eguae added that he’d known he’d be the starter since last Sunday. Putting the two of “reward performance” and two of “Sunday” together: man, the coaches were not terribly happy with Michael Goggans.

While we’re on the subject of the d-line, Mike Blanc is this week’s SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after collecting seven tackles vs. the ‘Cocks. His role right now is probably the role he was born to play at Auburn: take first downs or running downs off (since he doesn’t stand up as well to straight-line blocks), then come on on later downs to take advantage of his strengths in pursuit, pass-rush, and pass-batting without wearing him out. Tracy Rocker is a genius. But you knew that already.

I think he’s starting to see some more cuts, where I thought earlier in the season he’s thinking protect the football, put my head down, make tough yards, which at times didn’t allow him to use his vision that he did in high school. He’s got really good vision, and I think he’s getting more comfortable being able to see those things, combined with the fact that he had 20-odd opportunities to do it.

As freshmen go, he’s a great one, and he’s a freshman at running back on top of that. But he is still a freshman. A nice 17-carry game against UL-Monroe with lots of holes sounds like just what the doctor ordered, doesn’t it?

Pollwatch. You know already that Auburn is 10th in the AP and 11th in the coaches, but for any of you out there complaining about Auburn getting leapfrogged after a win last week, please note that Auburn jumped five teams that won this past week in the AP. The pollsters are actually responding to, you know, events on the field for once instead of moving teams around on a conveyor belt. This is a good thing.

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I’m totally with you on Bates. He’s had his eyes opened the last few weeks. It will be nice for both he and Stevens to regroup mentally this week verus ULaMo.
Speaking of our linebackers, sis Eltoro even see the field against USC?

Don’t forget Cam winning SEC offensive player of the week in addition to Blanc’s D-lineman award. I blindly commented saturday night on one of the other articles that he would get it. Someone posted that Burton from florida probably would, and he did get freshman of the week honors. That’s 4 weeks in a row of either offensive or defensive player of the week. Sure it is an individual award, but you can’t win it without help from your teamates. It truly speaks volumes about the state of our program thru the first 3rd. Let’s keep it up Tigers!

Alright, maybe its because I’m biased, maybe it’s because I’m a huge homer, but I truly believe that Auburn has the potential to win out. To beat Arkansas, LSU, UGA, and yes, Alabama. I think that we have the potential to beat whatever team the east sends to Atlanta and I think we have the potential to beat, really, any team in the nation. I think Auburn has this potential, and I think its possible that it happens this year. What I don’t think, is that anyone else thinks the same thing. Why is it so outrageous to think that Auburn wins out, that Cam Newton wins the heisman, and that Auburn plays and even possibly wins a National Title THIS YEAR.

It’s still early. We have a long way to go, we have a lot of growing to do. But if by the end of the season we can have the offense and the defense firing on all cylinders for 3 or 4 quarters, theres no doubt in my mind that we WILL do it. Maybe thats just a big if for all of you, but how are we so different? Why is it that week after week I hear Clemson fans and S. Carolina fans and Miss State fans that are convinced 100% that they will win, and all I hear from Auburn fans is that we might not, and even some Auburn fans predicting losses?

You guys are supposed to be homers, we’re supposed to scream WE’RE NUMBER 1! and Cam for Heisman! Because out of all of the people across the nation, we know this team better than anyone else. We see the heart that they have, the drive that we have. We see them playing till the clock reads 00:00. We need to be the ones that believe in them.

I, for one, am starting now. Starting today, I wholeheartedly expect Auburn to win the SEC and play for the National Championship this year. Even if that means that I stand dejected and in disbelief with egg on my face later this season. I’ll take that risk because I believe we are that good.

practice one designed play where Cam checks off or pumps to Adams and throws to his 2nd man(t zach or blake)….just one play….have that play down cold Cam! we know you can do it…then add a 2nd the next week for kentucky…if he can do that it will save him some hits this season.

La Monroe is a sure win…BUT everyone is assuming this and that is bad…I think we come out playing like crap this week…we can’t beat arkansas if Darren Bates is feeling better about himself…that is the game where we need a baddass safety playing linebacker and dropping into coverage for a interception…more than any other! Focus Bates…get ready…and let Eric Smith get 20 carries against Monroe…is Lad Phillips ready this week?

One game at a time…auburn has to get better this week…arkansas/kentucky will be two tough weeks(ok i think we can break Kentucky bad, but still we can work these two weeks to add a whole nother level to this offense)…keep working auburn. get better!

Foy, Freeman saw a handful of snaps that I noticed, but as against Clemson, not many. I’ll report back after the rewatch.

Johnny, the only problem I might have with that point-of-view is that once people set their expectations that high, they usually get angry when they’re not met … even when they know they’re probably too high to begin with. And the kids and coaches don’t deserve that anger the majority of the time. I don’t disagree that that kind of a season is at least in play, but for me, it’s less stressful to take it a game at a time and see what happens.

As for Cam, if he winds up in the mix at the end of the season, no one’s going to champion him any harder than we will. But it’s too early to get caught up in all of that, if you ask me. Leave the focus on the team.

Gabe, I’d be fine with a poor performance vs. Monroe, since I’m a lot more worried about them overlooking Kentucky than the Warhawks, and the less self-satisfied they are going to Lexington, the better.

Johnny Auburn, I hope to heaven you are right. But, I have been an Auburn fan a LONG time & I have had my heart broken many times. It is just the time I get my hopes up like you describe that AU’s luck runs out &, well, wait for next year. Even in 2004, we went undefeated & “lost” to USC. I love Auburn, but being an Auburn fan has trained me to wait for the axe to fall. But, dang it, I feel my hopes rising. Are MS st, Clemson, SC good teams, or not? we don’t know yet (except we did something in Starkville GA could not do.) I agree with you. If Cam & MIke stay healthy, there is no telling how far AU can go. War Eagle!!!

Johnny, I think the answer to your question may lie in the subconcious part of every Auburn fan’s mind. Hear me out. Let’s face it, we despise 99% of the bammer nation (excluding your one friend and relative that are actually decent fans). We despise everything they say, post, and whine about on the radio, at work, on facebook, etc. Bammers’ EXPECTATION to win every game, no matter the situation, annoys the hell out of us. Even more that lately, their team pulls a W out of their ass for arguably the most undeserving fan base of all time. That being said, Auburn fans strive to be better than that. I will predict any other team’s game outcome, except for Auburn’s. I choose to celebrate AFTER a win, not before one. It just makes sense that way. I think our fan base simply takes pride in being better people and classier fans than those of bama, and we’re terrified of being thought of in the same light. I think the rest of the nation is slowly taking note of this. Check out auburntron.com for a link to a South Carolina message board about their trip to Auburn this weekend. You’ll all be extremely proud of what you see.

Well said AUcat! Something I have always liked about being an Auburn fan was supporting the team win or lose. Of course, we get upset when we lose games, but some of my proudest moments as an Auburn fan are watching the students chant “it is great to be an Auburn Tiger!” after a loss!